Does anyone know where I can buy a new laptop that does NOT have Windows installed on it? I do not use Windows and I do not want to pay the Microsoft tax for something I will not use. I want a laptop with a 17" monitor, 500gb hard drive, 4gb of ram, and a card reader.

It has been said, before, that to just buy the laptop, including the 'tax' & then ZAP the hdd the theory says that the manufacturer of the laptop gets the 'tax' for near to nix in value & therefore you don't really pay anything for the 'tax' - dunno if I would go that far, but sometimes it just may be easier to buy a laptop, that way.

Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] - when your problem is solved!and DO LOOK at those Unanswered Topics - - you may be able to answer some!.

peperloader wrote:Does anyone know where I can buy a new laptop that does NOT have Windows installed on it? I do not use Windows and I do not want to pay the Microsoft tax for something I will not use.

The cheapest method for buying a computer is to get one with windows something OS already installed; since that is the how most of them are delivered (OEM products)

We might object to the idea of a built-in Microsoft beneficence, but there isn't much that can be done about it, no OEM is prepared to drop windows (a mass marketer of software, you might think of them as the Wallmart for software and some hardware types, eg keyboards, mice, web cams..etc)

Any custom or no hard drive computer, despite the illogic of this statement is likely to cost more than a computer that comes with a hard drive and the included OS (windows something, win7 these days), and of course, since you don't need windows, you also wont need the premium/deluxe or ultimate or business versions of that OS, nor pay for any upgrades--if you did decide to take an ethical position and patronize vendors that offered Linux as the installed OS, there are a few choicesI always check Emporerlinux for specs and types of support, they have been at it for awhile, and know what they are doing; there are of course other possibly lesser rivals available, support may or may not be as good, but then you are paying the price for getting it done righthttp://www.emperorlinux.com/

DrHu makes a good point. Depending on your point of view, purchasing a computer with Windows pre-installed can work out cheaper than buying one without (or building your own) if you look at it this way : compare the cost of buying a copy of Windows to the cost of the computer. It actually works out cheaper to buy a computer WITH Windows installed than buying both separately. Particularly useful for gaming PC's or other hi-spec machines. In the case of low cost machines, the cost of a brand new copy of Windows could out-strip the cost of the machine.

I guess that what I'm trying to say is that getting hung up on whether Windows is included isn't that big a deal.

Technically, and according to the Windows license, you can buy a laptop with Windows, then the first time that you power it up, refuse to accept the license. The license agreement then technically entitles you to a refund for the cost of Windows on that machine (which you won't, unfortunatley, know since the cost is determined by the agreement between the laptop maker and MS. YMMV. Some people have reported success in obtaining a refund, though by all accounts it aint easy.

I was at Walmart today and saw a Acer standard 15.6 inch laptop for about $288.00. If you are not a holier than thou type, just put Mint in the drive completely replacing W7. If you want to keep W7, buy a replacemnt drive for about $50.00 and install Mint on it. I have read of some who do that wth the Acer. I know how to shop on line.I have a almost two year old Acer with Mint on it that I was told came from Walmart with Vista, a ugly OS. The one I saw has better specs.A friend picked up a similar Acer for a few dollars more almost a year ago with W7 and runs very well.

The way the subsidies and bulk sales work it can often be cheaper to buy with Windows, unfortunately Microsoft use that as "someone who CHOSE Windows" in their propaganda, even if it's wiped on first boot. The only way they can't count it as that, is if you refuse the EULA on first boot, and go through the intentionally torturous refund procedure merry-go-round to completion, which most will not, they will give up after repeatedly trying to get companies to honour the terms of the EULA.

It does make you wonder, the EULA is an agreement between you (the user) and Microsoft (the software vendor). If they refuse to honour terms they WROTE, why should you honour terms you had to accept to use their software?

I ended up buying a new laptop that had Windows 7 on it because I couldn't find one without it for the price I was willing to pay. I installed Linux Mint 11 and I just don't use Windows. I hate having to pay for something I didn't want but there wasn't any way around it.

Well.. just in case someone do not realise, there is deep psychology behind the trick.. people are just like geese, they accept any moving object as their parents, if they hatch and the is one.. and it can be anything.. See the rise of smart phones? The new OS comes through the new hardware, and it is accepted without too many questions. You can convince someone change the OS only through other new hardware, or superiority. I never promote Linux, but if I show this machine to the others, I do mention that I have the newest motherboard with graphic and CPU on one chip.. and that I have new fast SSD.. and that my monitor have LED back light and consumes only 20 watt.. oh.. yes, did you hear my PC? No. Well, that's because I have passive PSU with 80 plus certification.. and then: Linux Mint is starting without any fuss.. do it have a need say three times in one picture: "Here I am!"..no, it just black screen, and after somewhat 10 seconds start time I have my desktop. Men who did read some dating books, know: you always communicate, even if you do say nothing..

Not this time. I found a 6 month old Asus Eee this weekend on Craig's List for $150. (It had a whopping 27 days on the HDD, and the original install date was December 2010.) It came with XP Home, but it now has a full LM 10 install! Also pumped it up to 2GB RAM.

I use a Dell Latitude E6420 with Linux Mint. Dell supports and now has drivers (even the Dell OS Installation ISO on dell.com/support so it's OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED).

If you're in the US you going to have a helluva hard time finding a Linux Laptop from a major manufacturer that is powerful. Also, you can buy the Dell Latitude E6420 from websites with Linux preinstalled, but they charge a premium. Before you buy a laptop, just Google "linux" and the laptop name and see what you find. Look for success stories. This way you won't have to limit yourself to the distributers with the cheap laptops with Linux preinstalled which, in my experience, seem to be overpriced.